Psychometric Properties and Underlying Assumptions of Two Measures of Masculinity/Femininity

Abstract

The psychometric properties and assumptions underlying the terms masculinity and femininity were examined using two psychometrically and conceptually different measures of masculinity/femininity, the Femininity Scale from the California Psychological Inventory and the Bern Sex-role Inventory. Participants were 221 male and 221 female undergraduate and graduate college students. The results of principal components and correlational analyses indicated that (a) the Femininity Scale is not a unidimensional, bipolar measure, (b) the scale primarily measures stereotypic sex-role orientations, (c) the Bern scale measures two independent, unipolar personality styles (an instrumental and agentic personality style and an expressive and communal personality style), as well as social maturity, and (d) the two scales share a stereotypic notion of masculinity/femininity. It was also suggested that the Femininity Scale may be utilized to index changes in society's definitions of masculinity and femininity and that the investigation of the role which social maturity plays in regulating sex-role related behaviors is warranted.